Cory Olsen | The Grand Rapids PressTaking aim: Dan Van Dussen prepares to fire his .44-caliber handgun at the Chick-Owa Sportsman's Club in Zeeland Township one day last week. The club's shooting range is surrounded by berms.

At the Kent County Conservation League shooting range, Tim Wiley understands the ramifications of an error.

“This is a business that we can’t afford to have any mistakes,” said Wiley, the league’s property manager. “We have to do everything in our power to make sure it’s completely safe.

Range officials in Kent and Ottawa counties cannot recall a similar incident, but the possibility exists every day, Wiley said.

“I think all ranges realize the magnitude of what we’re doing and the importance of being safe, attending to every detail,” Wiley said. “Without hunter’s safety and gun clubs educating people on what to do with firearms, how to do it, and providing a place to do it safely, it would be far more dangerous out there.”

That’s the case because state laws allow private property owners to shoot openly on their land. That comes with inherent risk, because shooters are liable for any injury or damage.

Directors and safety instructors at ranges in West Michigan didn’t want to speculate about what could have led to a bullet breaking the North Ottawa barrier and striking a contractor’s arm. They say it’s unlikely multiple ricochets occurred, sending bullets to the same area.

Outdoor shooting ranges — there are 11 in Kent and Ottawa counties — are registered with the state Department of Natural Resources, but the regulation lies with local governments. Many, however, do not have ordinances in place to oversee range activities.

In Ada Township, where Wiley’s range is located, the conservation league has been restricted since 1975 on how many firing areas it may have, the distance from property lines where they must be located and many other details.

That ordinance is in effect despite the organization’s use being grandfathered, since it has existed for 81 years.

Grand Haven Township officials, the same ones who approved the Cutter Park subdivision a half-mile away from the North Ottawa shooting range, are evaluating the safety and potential limitations at the Rod & Gun Club, which has voluntarily ceased fire in light of the concerns.

The state will stay out of the review, but Mary Dettloff, a DNR spokeswoman, acknowledged the department’s desire for that range and others to operate safely. It’s not in the state’s interests for outdoor ranges to be eliminated, she said.

“We really hope not,” Dettloff said of the possibility of an overreaction and closures spreading. “There are almost 800,000 licensed hunters in the state, and many of them depend on ranges for practice and sighting in their firearms.

“If we don’t have them as our safety net, people will go on private land or in public areas where there could be a multitude of problems. It would create an unsafe situation.”

The state last spring had to act fast to ban shooting at the Rogue River Extension Area, near Rockford, when homes in a subdivision a half-mile away were hit by gunfire from an AK-47. Previously, a sign had warned that shooting there was unsafe.

Depending on the caliber of handgun or type of long gun used, bullets or pellets can travel more than three miles.

That distance is nearly triple the space between the Chick-Owa Sportsman’s Club’s outdoor shooting areas and the nearest house in Zeeland Township. It’s similar to the setup at North Ottawa.

Subdivisions have been built around many ranges, said Dan Van Dussen, the club’s vice president.

“There’s not much we can do about what gets built around us,” he said. “We’ve been here and we try to be good neighbors who make conscious decisions as sportsmen to act safely.”

Mature hardwoods surround the property along Ottogan Street, and people shooting at the range fire down a concave earthen cut-out with a berm at the end.

Even with the seemingly safe surroundings, Van Dussen said there is constant consideration of potential improvements.

“It’s our responsibility to handle the tools of our trade as safely as we can,” Van Dussen said. “We do that, and there’s no problem.”